Centrifugal drier



Septl; 1936 A. SCHMELZER 2,052,667

CENTRIFUGAL DRIER Filed March 8, 1935 ATTORNEY V40 of its advantages.

Patented Sept. l, 1936 A .UN''E STATES FTENT OFFICE .CNTRIFUGAL DRIERAnton C. Schmelzerfleveland, Ohio Application March 8, 1935, iSerial No.9,919 14 claims. (ci. 21o-,75)

This invention relates tocentrifugal clothes rinsing andV dryingapparatus intended for home or domestic use and has for its principalobject the provision cfa machine of rthat type with simple andeffectivermeans for preventing water drained or thrown from the clothesbasket reaching the bearings for the drive shaft, so as to per- 'mit ofthe use of ball or vroller Ybearingsfor the shaft.

10. Another object of the invention -is theprovision ofa centrifugalclothes rinsing andl drying apparatus with an extractingelement havingits Vbody bulging outwardly `intermediate its ends andembodyingAextracting means in the lprox- 15 imity of the :bulged portion anddrainage means in the bottom face ofthe element in combination withmeans axially extending through the drive shaft ofthe extractingelement-,for discharging thewater from the basket through the shaft andzoprohibiting discharged water fromf contacting and interfering with thebearings of the drive shaft.

f A still further object of thejinvention is the provision of anapparatus of this character, which is simple in construction, thoroughlyreliable and geincient in itsy purpose; strong, durable, compact,readilyassembledand :comparatively inexpensive to manufacture andinstall.

VWiththe foregoing and other objectsinview, the invention consistsv inthe features of construction, lcombination Aand arrangements ofV parts,as will be hereinafter `more specicallydescribed in detail `andillustrated in the Vaccompanying drawingawherein` is shown the preferredembodiment of they invention, but it is to be understood that changes,variationsV and modifications can be made as come properly within thescope of theappendedclaimswithout departing from the spirity of theinvention or sacrificing any i In the accompanying drawing: i A* Figure1 is a vertical fragmentary sectional view lthrough afcentrifugalclothes rinsingv and drying apparatusY constructed in accordance withthe invention and .Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional viewthrough the, bottom plate of the rotary basket of the apparatusdisclosed in Fig. 1 showing the drainagev arrangement for drainingsurplus water from the basket prior to extracting and dryingoperations.Y V y Referring to the drawing in detail, the apparatusconstructed in accordance with the invention, that is the ,fpreferredform thereof, comprises a' centrifuge'setion -A.and -a drive section B.The centrifuge section A rests with its outer` tank 2 upon the recessedtop 3 of the drive section B and isY secured thereto in a mannerhereinafter described. vThis tank 2 encircles a double cone-shaped,rotatably mounted clothes 5 basket 4, which basket consists of upper andlower coneportions and S respectively, formed with outwardly extendingand downwardly inclined flanges .l and 8, Vsecured together at spacedpoints .by rivets "9. V'Flange B is also 'recessedbe- 10 tween itsA,points of attachment to flange 'l and forms arcuate slots l0 betweenthe flanges l and 8 through which slots water is thrown by centrifugalforce, when the basket 4 is rotated by a hollow drive 'shaft Il,arranged below in 15 the. basket d in axial alignment with respectthereto. The "lower'jcone portion E ispreferably 're-enforced by acone-shaped anged extension l2 of an adapter `HL-securedto the flange bythe rivets'S, and islfurthermore enclosed within an 20 inner'itank'orapron l5, which tank conforms to thenQnguration of vandis slightlyspaced from the A'basket 4and the reenforcing extension l2 of'theadapter I This apron, Vat its lower end rigidly secured to the top 3 ofthe Adrive section 25 Bgprevents waterv discharged through the slots i0fromE entering into the central portion of the tank2-and thus protectsthebearing support for the hollow drive shaft Il, which shaft extendsupwardly andoutwardly through the toprwall 3 of 30 the drive section B.

The drive-section vB embodies a preferably pressed sheet metalhousing,comprising a cupshaped-loaseplatel 46 and a recessed top memberill, thefidownturned peripheral wall I8 of 35 which-is-secured to the upturnedange `ll of the base -plate 16. The top member I1 issupportedonlegs`28fextended into pockets 2| of the top member 'I1-:and securedthereto by rivets 2B. The =base plate I6 rotatably mounts the hol- 40low' basketvdrive shaft- Il, which `shaft carriesl and`f=is` coupledwith the basket .4; Thusthe lower end of this drive shaftprojectsthrough an op'eningin` a .recessed portion22. in the base 1 plate 'l5and carries a small gear 23 Irigidly se- 45 cured to said shaft by meansof fa nut.24. A tube 25, secured to the base. plate I6 and partiallyenclosingthe shaft H, carries `upper and lower bearings 26-27, whichpivotally support the shaft Il. ,The ',upper. end of :this .tube 25projects 50 throughan opening-285m the top member Vl1 and isV secured to`said top .byaangedbracket 29 sleevedupon saidI tube and welded thereto,and the lower end yof said tube projects through the opening `in therecess 22 ofthe base plate I6 and 55 is secured thereto by means of abracket 30, welded to the tube 25 and bolted to the base plate E6bymeans of screw bolts 3|. The lower and upper bearings 21 and 26, atOpposite ends of the tube 25, which bearings are ball bearings, havetheir inner rings or races 33 and 32 secured to the hollow shaft II anda cone-shaped male adapter 34 respectively, which adapter is in turnfixed to the shaft Il, whereas the outer'rings 36 and 35 of saidbearings are rigidly mounted in a cup-shaped bracket 31, welded to theupper end of the tube 25, and in the lower widened end of the tube 25.The adapter 34 and a cup 34 V pressed into the tube 25 form a sealedgrease chamber for the upper bearing 26 and a grease cup 31 preventsgrease escaping from the lower bearing 21.

The small gear 23 at the lower end of the drive t shaft II meshes with acombined gear andfriction disc ,38 driven from a variable frictionalspeed mechanism presently described. This gear 39 which extends througha "slot 39 in the wall 49 of the recess 22 for engagement with the gear23 is mounted for rotation upon a hollow shaft 4- I, x-ed to the/baseplate I6 by a nut member42.

The variable jfrictional speed mechanism is adapted to vbe'connected toand driven from a conventional wringer-type washing machine, not shownherein, but clearly illustrated andi de# scribed Vin my co-pendingapplication Ser. No. 688,513, filed September 7, 1933, or may be drivenfrom any desired source of power, such asan electric motor. For suchpurpose the variable frictional drive mechanism includes a drive shaft43, which shaft extends through and is rotatably mounted in a bearinghousing 44, supported at its opposite endsadjacent one side of the tank2, by means of a bracket 45'and the top member 11 of the drive sectionB. The upper end of the shaft 43 V(not shown) may beconnected to anddriven from a'washing machine als disclosed in the applicationpreviously referred Ato or may be coupled with any other source ofrotary power, such asa motor, etc. j y

The lower end of. the drive shaft 43 slidably supports adisc-shapedfriction driver 46, splined to said shaft and axially movable withrespect thereto, to permit of a coil spring 41, bearing at its upper endagainst a flanged collar 48, xed to the shaft 43 by means of a pin 49,to yieldingly and resiliently engagey and contact with an intermediatefriction wheel 56. This wheel 50 is freely rotatably. and axiallyshiftably supported yupon a substantiallyk horizontally disposed tubingor rod 52, preferably in the manner'described in the applicationreferred to above, and the rod 52 is vertically slidably mounted onhollow shaft 4I andia post 53, in turn rigidly secured to the base plateI6 by a nuty 54, so as to permit of vertical adjustment of the axis ofrotation of said intermediate friction wheel 50 in case of wear of itsfriction surface. :The intermediate friction wheel, when in its idlingposition, see Fig. 1, rests upon and frictionally engages an idler disc55, pivotally mounted upon astud shaft 56. V'I'his shaft 56 is rigidlysecured to the base plate I6 by. means ofy a nut Shifting of thefriction Wheel 50 from Fig. 1 position toward left by means such as forexample described in the above referred to application causes frictionalengagementof the friction wheel 59 vwith the upper face 58 of thecombined gear and friction disc 38 and therewith rotation of the shaft II, which shaft mounts and is coupled with the cone-shaped female adapterI4 of the basket 4 by means of the male adapter 34, as will readily beseen from an inspection of the drawing.

The bottom face -of basket 4 is centrally recessedY as at 60 andperforated at 6l to permit of drainage of the basket 4 prior to andduring its rotation, so as to dispose of undesired surplus water fromwet clothes, dropped into the basket for drying purposes. A false bottommember 62 pressed into the recess 66 covers the opening 6I and the re-Vcess 66, so that the exposed bottom face of the basket is a plainsmooth surface and permits sliding of the goods thereon without dangerof tearing the goods. The false bottom member is provided with angularlyoffset finger portions 63,

partly extended into the main body thereof to provide a series ofdrainage holes 64 adjacent to the edge of the recess 69, which holespermit of drainage water into the recess 69 `and hence through thedrainage opening 6I into and through the hollow shaft IVI Yto the inletof a pump 65. To that end the basket 4 carries at the outside faceof itsbottom Wall al short tubular member 66 rigidly connectedethereto inalignment with vthe opening 6I by means of a flange 61, welded tosaidbottom Wall. This tubular member 66 eX- tends axially into thehollow shaft II and telescopes into a tubular member 68, extended intothe lowerend of the hollow shaft VII inY slightly spaced relationfrom'lthe inner wall 69 thereof and the outer wall of the tubular member66. The tubular member 68 is stationary and'supp-ortedby and seatedwithin a tubular extension 16 of a cover plate 1I`,bolted to theplate I6of the drive section B by means of bolts 12. The

tubular extension 'F9-is secured tothe inlet of the Y The drain pipev 14fully extends through the cover plate I1 of the drive section B andthrough a drain opening 16 into the tank 2 and is rigidly securedtheretoby means of a collar 11, co-operating with a shoulder 18 on the ldrainpipe in'V tightly sealing the tank 2, the top member I1 and thedrainpipe 14 with respect to each other.

VThe pump 65 consists of a two part casing -19 in which a shaft 89,carrying impeller blades 8|, is adapted to be rotated by means of abevelgearv drive,82, which in turnis driven from the' friction driver 4 6 aswill be presently described. .Thus theV friction driver 4 6 carries atitsfcircumferential surface gear teeth 83, Vmeshing with a small gear!84 at the upper end of a freely rotatably mounted vertical shaft 85.This shaft extends through the hollow shaft 4I and'is mounted near itsopposite ends in upper and lower ball bearings 86 and 81. A bracketmember 88, rigidly attached to the tubing 25, supports Vtheupper ballbearing 86,'while 'the lower ball bearing 81 is carried and supported bya gear casing 89,'secured to the base plate I6 by means of bolts 90. Theshaft 89, which extends into the gear casing 89, carries at its lowerend a bevel gear 9|, meshing with a second bevel gear 92 within thecasing 89. The bevel gear 92 is attached to the end'of a shaft Y93,which shaft carries at its opposite end a bevel gear 94, meshing with abevel gear 95 lat theV lower Y end of the pump shaft'89.' The bevelgears 94 and 95 are mounted in a gear casing 96 secured to thepumpcasing 19` by means of bolts 91.

Preferably the-two gear casngs 89 and 96 are Y to ride up the outwardlyflared sidesoffthe lowerl halfk (i and ri-de down the outwardlyilaredsidesY erated the pumpg is continuously,running,that,V

is the pump` is, actuated, when theV basket 4, is rotated or` at v`rest. Consequently the drainage holes in the basket will effect drainingofthe surplus water, through thehollow shaft I I as soon as some of thegoods t-o bev dried are placed into theVv basket. Rotation of the basketcauses the water ofthe, upper half 5 and hence out through the slots!Q;,between the flanges 'land 8 into the tank 2. The inclination oftheflanges l and 8 directs the'water from the basket atan acute` angle to-`ward the verticalV wall of the tank 2, prevents splashingandformingofsoapy suds, if the water discharged Yis soapy, and `finally`effectively pro-l hibits waterfrom entering the space between theapronandthebasket, so that all danger of water and suds reaching thebearings isavoided; Retardation of the rotation ofthe basket by contactwith theV water or sudsV extracted from the clothesi is also avoided.

The water thrown from the basket as -well as the.` water drainedltherefrom passes to and through the pump 65 andrthence either to thewashing machine or to a set tub, neither of which is shown.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: u

1. In a centrifugal drier a support, a tank having an apertured bottommounted on said support, drive mechanism carried by said supportincluding a hollow driven shaft extended into said tank through saidapertured bottom, a basket having a perforated bottom means forconnecting said basket with said driven shaft for rotation therewith andmounting said basket above and opposite the upper end of said shaft, apump driven by said drive mechanism, and means for guiding liquiddrained from said basket through said perforated bottom to said pump,said means vco-operating with said hollow shaft in guiding said liquidtherethrough.

2. In a centrifugal drier a support, a tank having an apertured bottommounted on said support, drive mechanism carried by said supportincluding a hollow shaft adapted to be driven at will and extending intosaid tank through the apertured bottom thereof, a basket having aperforated bottom means for connecting said basketV with sai-d drivenshaft for rotation therewith and mounting same above and opposite theupper end of said shaft, a pump continuously driven by said drivemechanism, means extending centrally from rthe b-ottom of said basketfor guiding liquid discharged from said basket into said hollow shaft,and means for guiding the liquid from said hollow shaft to sai-d pump.

3. A centrifugal drier as described in claim 2, wherein said means forguiding liquid from said hollow shaft to said pump include a stationarytubing arranged within said shaft in spaced relation with respect to theinner wall thereof to permit of free rotation of said shaft.

4. In a centrifugal drier a support, a tank having an apertured bottommounted on said support, drive mechanism carried by said supportincluding a hollowl driven shaft extended into and supported within saidtank, a basket within said tank, coupling means for connecting saidshaft .and basket andv supporting` same opposite4 and above the upperend thereof, said; basket having its body bulging circumferentiallyinter-v mediate its ends and its middle portion provided with flangeddischarge openings, a skirting means,-

encircling said basket and sealed to the bottom of the tank around-itsaperture said skirting means having its upper edge arranged slightlybelow said flanged openings for protecting said shaft and its supportfrom liquiddischarged from said basket, drainage means at the bottom ofsaid basket, and means `on said basket` for4 guidingV liquid drainedfrom saidbasket into said hollow shaft for discharging saidliquidtherethrough.

5. In a centrifugal drier a support, a tank having an apertured bottommounted on said support,

drive mechanism carried by said support including a hollow drive shaftextended into saidtank through said apertured bottom, a skirting means`sealed to the bottom of the tank around its aperture, a doublecone-shaped basket consisting of upper and lower flanged cone-shapedportions connected with their flanges in spaced relation to providearcuate discharge slots therebetween, the outer ends of said slotsextending laterally at an inclination beyond the upper edge of; saidskirting means, drainage means in the bottom face of said basket, andguidingmeans for` guid-r ing the drainage of said basket to and throughsaid shaft.

6. In a centrifugal drier a support, a tank having an apertured bottommounted on said support, drive mechanism carried by said supportincluding a hollow driven shaft extended into said tank through saidapertured bottom, a coupling member attached to said shaft, a basket, acoupling member on said basket co-operating with said rst couplingmember in coupling said basket with said shaft and supporting same abovethe upper end thereof, drainage means for said basket including meansfor guiding liquid from the bottom of said basket to and through saidsecond coupling member into the upper end of said hollow shaft, andcontinuously driven pumping means connected with the lower end of saidhollow shaft for withdrawing the liquid drained thereinto. Y

7. In a centrifugal drier a support, a tank having an apertured bottommounted on said support including a hollow driven shaft extended intosaid tank through the apertured bottom thereof, a basket, means on saidshaft and basket for coupling same with each other and supporting thebasket on said shaft above the upper end thereof, drainage means at thebottom of said basket, and means on said basket for guiding liquiddischarged from said basket into said hollow shaft for dispensing theliquid therethrough. 8. A centrifugal drier as described in claim '7,wherein the drainage means embody a stationary tubular member extendedupwardly into said hollow shaft and spaced from the inner wall thereof.

9. A centrifugal drier as described in claim 7, wherein said drainagemeans include a tubular member in communication with and downwardlyextended from said basket into said hollow shaft.

10; A centrifugal drier as described in claim '7, wherein said hollowshaft has upwardly extended thereinto a stationary tubular member, andwherein said drainage means include a tubular member in communicationwith and downwardly extended into said stationary member in said hollowshaft.

11. A centrifugal drier as described in claim 6,

wherein theV coupling member on said basket is provided with an upwardlyextending circum-A ferential cone-shaped Wall seating, contacting withand reenforcing the lower portion of said basket and coupling same withsaid coupling member. Y

` `12. In a centrifugal.' drier a support, a tank having an aperturedbotto-m mounted on said support, drive mechanism carried by said supportincluding a hollow driven shaft extended into said tank through theapertured bottom thereof, a skirting means sealed to the bottom of thetank around its aperture, a double coneshaped basket within said tankencircled by said skirting means for connecting said -basket with saidshaft and supporting said basket above and opposite the upper end ofsaid shaft, said basket having its middle portion circumferentiallyperforated, ilanges on said basket enclosing said perforations andarranged above the upper edge of said skirting means for dischargingliquid Y expelled by centrifugal force fromsaid basket outwardly of saidskirting means, means at the bottom Yof said basket for draining liquidfrom said basket to and through said hollow shaft, and a single pumpingmeans in communication with said tank and said hollow shaft fordispensing the liquid from said drier.

13.V A centrifugal drier as described in claim l2` wherein the couplingmember at the upper endof said hollow shaft is a male member and the'coupling member on the basket is a'female member, and wherein saidfemale coupling member includes an upwardly extending circumferential uextension contacting withV the lower portion o1 said basket andencircling same for reenforcing said portion, said extension beingattached to one of the iianges of said basket. Y

14. In a, centrifugal drier a support, a tank having an apertured bottommounted on said support, drive mechanism carried by said supportincluding a hollow drive shaft extended into said tank throughsaidrapertured bottom, a skirting means sealed to theV bottom of thetank around its aperture to provide a ring-shaped chamber therein, arotary basket coupled with and supportedV above the upper end of saidvshaft and adaptedV to eXpell liquid by centrifugal force and directsame into said ring-shaped chamber,-

munication with said ring-shaped chamber and said hollow shaft fordispensing the liquid from

